Sleep apnea syndrome is defined as a condition in which an apneic state where breathing stops for ten seconds or longer is repeated 30 times or more during seven hours of sleep or is repeated five times or more per hour of sleep. Sleep apnea syndrome causes symptoms such as uncontrollable daytime sleepiness, depression, impaired concentration, and snoring. Further, since a patient developing sleep apnea syndrome is sleeping, if the patient does not live with anyone such as his/her family in the same house, discovery of sleep apnea syndrome is often delayed.
For a close examination of sleep apnea syndrome, a patient needs to enter a hospital having a room in which an apparatus for acquiring data used in the examination is installed, and a medical specialist needs to analyze the data. That is, a patient has a burden of costs and time and also has a physical burden since the patient often needs to be equipped with a sensor. Further, in such a close examination of sleep apnea syndrome, the number of patients who can be examined at a time is limited, which is inefficient for hospitals.
In view of such circumstances, there is a need for a simple test method that can test at home or the like beforehand whether or not a close examination of sleep apnea syndrome is needed.